I get this email in response to an eblast that I sent out advertising a warehouse position that we were trying to fill: i want to let you know i have sent my resume to your company, i have extensive concrete, and building trade experience, as well as a degree in civil engineering, i called […]

When you talk with as many job seekers and Human Resource Managers as we have, there are certain truths that begin to emerge.   For example, I know without any doubt, that the person who gets the job is not necessarily the person with the most skills and experience. Almost without exception, it will be the person […]

I hate the reputation that “Temp Agencies” have.  That being said, apparently we deserve it. I borrowed the following excerpt about a bad interview experience from a job board––and then unfortunately lost the link so am unable to give credit to the author.  When I read stuff like this it only serves to strengthen my […]

A friend of mine said to me, “John, find me some drywall hangers and I will pay you for your time”. To which I said, “You’re a legit dude, so I’d be happy to!” I ran an ad here and 5 people applied. He ran the same ad and 30 people applied. I would like […]

A letter to the guy who called our office (twice) and screamed at us because we were offering a drywall job that paid $17 to $20 per hour.

A friend of mine told me a story of a lesson he learned from an old Jewish investor from NYC. Eli was an investor and owned a ton of properties in and around Buffalo.  Dorian had a small remodeling company that happened to be really good at drywall.   Eli and Dorian struck a deal […]

I was asked the question, “Is leaving a job on bad terms ever okay?” I believe that how a person leaves each and every relationship (professional or personal) is likely a measure of their character. And if not their character, then certainly their personality. The exception to this is if you leave during the initial […]

Out of frustration, one day, I posed a question on Craigslist.  I asked, “Why are people so negative about using a Recruiter”?  Michael M sent me an email.  In it, he said, A recruiter or temp agency are people who can’t or don’t want to do the tasks but get paid for the people actually […]

Keep your tools secure and dry this winter! If you’re familiar with Weatherguard, then I don’t really need to tell you that this is a solid way to organize your truck. Maybe seven years ago I took these as collateral for a loan to one of my employees. He’s long since gone but the boxes […]

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, […]

Should I go to college?  What is the true cost of college?  Is it a good investment?  What is the cost of opportunity lost?  On the whole college graduates make more money, but how much, and will it guarantee me a job that I love?  Clearly there is value, but is it something other than […]

According to CareerXRoads, in 2012 of the companies polled less than 1.2% of new hires came from the mega job boards Monster.com or CareerBuilder.  That means that 98.8% of those who uploaded all of their personal information wasted their time.  What does that mean for all of your personal information?  Who has it?  How is […]

The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday ordered that from now on, at least 90 percent of the construction jobs on any project it aids must go to Western New York workers. Reacting to a request from the County Legislature, the IDA board approved a new local hiring policy that puts incentives at risk […]

Estimator, Commercial Estimating for residential work often tends to include a generous amount of sales and relationship work.  Commercial estimating requires a different personality.  A commercial estimator had better like numbers.  This video is a really good overview of the job. HAZWOPER 8 Hour Refresher Certification Hazardous Waste Operations require trained and skilled technicians to […]

Who Are They? * They work full-time, permanent jobs * They come with resumes * They have solid, verifiable work histories * They have proven management skills * They have proven technical & mechanical skills * They are educated.  They have Diplomas, Bachelors, and Masters degrees.  Some have graduated from the school of hard knocks! In Western […]